BOONE, N.C. – Riding its longest unbeaten streak in program history, App State Soccer heads to Ruston, La. to face off against Louisiana Tech on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
App State (6-1-2, 1-0-0) returns to the pitch following a 1-0 victory against Georgia State in the Sun Belt Conference opener last Friday.
Ellie Garrison found the back of the net after heading in a corner kick from
Hayden Petrick early in the second half.
Maddie Williams,
Anaya Jones, and
Lucy Harrington held the backline for the full 90 minutes in front of goalkeeper
Hanna Skogsfors, resulting in the Mountaineers fifth clean sheet of the season. App State conceded just one shot to a Panther team that came in averaging over 15 shot attempts per contest.
Libby Bermingham leads the Mountaineers with five goals and one assist on the season, putting her just ahead of Garrison's four goals on the year. Harrington is the only Mountaineer to play every minute of every game this season. App State leads the Sun Belt in goals-against average (.778) and ranks 18
th nationally in corner kicks per game (7.56). The Mountaineers have outgained their opponents 68-29 in corner kicks on the year and outshot the opposition 124-61.
Louisiana Tech (2-5-2, 0-0-1) enters the contest following a 1-1 tie against Marshall last Saturday in its inaugural Sun Belt conference opener. After falling behind to the Thundering Herd in the first half, the Bulldogs were able to rally as Izzy Wilson scored in the 65
th minute, earning Louisiana Tech a tie, and snapping the Bulldogs three-game losing skid. Abby Hanton leads the Bulldogs with three goals and three assists on the season, while Mackenzie Lorkowski has started the last eight matches in goal, posting a .800 save percentage.
Head coach Matt Lodge leads the Bulldogs for his first season in Ruston. Lodge was previously at Murray State for eight seasons, where he became the winningest coach in program history. Louisiana Tech went 4-13-2 last season and 3-4-1 in their final year in Conference USA. They were picked to place 13th in the Sun Belt Conference preseason coaches poll.
App State and Louisiana Tech will meet for the first time in program history, as the Bulldogs joined the Sun Belt Conference on July 1.
The Mountaineers will return home on Sunday to face Old Dominion at 1 p.m. at The Valley. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+
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